If the last couple of months haven’t taught the floor coatings industry something about the value of flake, they probably should have.
Because flake has value.
Not just a price per pound.
Not just a price per box.
Value.
For years, contractors have complained about the guy selling $5-a-square-foot—or cheaper—garage floors.
“He’s ruining the market.”
“He’s selling on price.”
“He doesn’t understand the value of what he’s installing.”
Fair enough.
But then some of those same contractors turn around and buy their materials the exact same way.
They chase the cheapest box of flake across town. They call six suppliers trying to save a few dollars. They order from whoever happens to be cheapest that particular week.
Then a shortage hits.
Suddenly the cheapest box of flake isn’t such a great deal when you can’t get it.
A Cheap Box You Can’t Buy Isn’t Cheap
If you have a $3,000, $4,000 or $5,000 garage scheduled and you’re missing the flake, how much did you really save?
What does rescheduling the customer cost?
What does sending somebody across town looking for material cost?
What does changing the customer’s color cost?
What does having your crew sitting around cost?
And what does telling a customer, “Sorry, we can’t get your color,” do to the reputation of your business?
That’s when contractors start figuring out that the value of flake isn’t measured entirely by the price printed on the box.
Availability has value.
Inventory has value.
Relationships have value.
A supplier answering the phone has value.
Knowing where your next 20 boxes are coming from has value.
Being able to order when you need it and know the material will be there has value.
We Can’t Complain About Cheap Contractors While Acting Like Cheap Contractors
We can’t complain about cheap contractors while acting like cheap contractors.
This industry loves talking about value when we’re selling a floor.
We tell homeowners not to choose the cheapest contractor.
We explain the difference in preparation, materials, experience, warranty and service.
We tell them:
Don’t make a $4,000 decision over a couple hundred dollars.
Maybe we should take some of our own advice.
Because if you’re running a professional coating company, purchasing shouldn’t simply be:
Who has the cheapest box today?
It should be:
Who helps me keep my crews working and my customers happy?
That’s a very different question.
Buying Smart Is Different Than Buying Cheap
Nobody is suggesting contractors should stop watching material costs.
Of course price matters.
Margins matter.
Knowing your cost per square foot matters.
But there’s a difference between buying intelligently and buying cheap.
An intelligent purchasing decision considers price, but it also considers availability, inventory, shipping, convenience, supplier relationships and what happens when something goes wrong.
Saving $10 or $20 on a box doesn’t look nearly as impressive when a several-thousand-dollar job is sitting on the schedule waiting for material.
The cheapest material isn’t necessarily the material that makes you the most money.
The Smart Contractors Will Adapt
This shortage won’t last forever.
But hopefully the lesson does.
The contractors paying attention will build better supplier relationships, keep appropriate inventory on hand, plan further ahead and stop treating every box of flake like a commodity that can magically be found somewhere tomorrow.
Because sometimes it can’t.
And when there’s a garage waiting, a crew waiting and a customer waiting, saving a few dollars on a box suddenly doesn’t seem nearly as important.
Maybe the floor coatings industry is finally learning the same lesson we’ve been trying to teach homeowners for years:
The cheapest price isn’t always the best value.
Garage Floor Flake was built by floor coating contractors for floor coating contractors. We believe contractors should have reliable access to professional-grade flake, straightforward purchasing and a supplier that understands what happens when tomorrow’s job depends on today’s material.
GarageFloorFlake.com